The Performance Show Horse Association (PSHA), a new organization formed to consolidate and uniformly ensure compliance with the Horse Protection Act as part of its mission has announced a new affiliation agreement with the SHOW HIO.
 
As part of the agreement, a group of four veterinarians will serve at counsel to the HIO on matters of welfare and compliance with the Horse Protection Act.  These veterinarians will also help with HPA training for licensed Designated Qualified Persons.

The Performance Show Horse Association (PSHA) was created to consolidate industry enforcement of the HPA in a fair and consistent manner to protect the wellbeing of walking horses, while maintaining the integrity of the sport.  The vast majority of owners and trainers love walking horses and put their wellbeing above all else.  For far too long, the industry has not followed through on its talk of reform with real action.  We understand that, if we don’t rid the industry of its few soring trainers, there will be no industry in the near future.  Already we have made major strides to reform the system, including creating the most aggressive inspection system in the business and instituting serious punishments for those who break the rules.  And we will not be satisfied until the entire industry is fully compliant with all federal regulations and truly consistent with our love for horses.

The PSHA has a master affiliation with this HIO and all of its sanctioned shows will use the HIO, which recently completed training, which certified 11 new DQPs.
 
As part of the agreement, a new veterinarian hearing panel was formed to enforce the HPA to the fullest and protect the welfare of the Tennessee Walking Horse.  When a trainer is ticketed for allegedly violating the HPA, he or she has the opportunity to appeal to a panel.  The panel will consist solely of independent, expert veterinarians.